Development
of the
Trust Black Women Initiative
In April 2020, as philanthropy and the rest of the world started waking up as a response to the Movement for Black Lives ( #BlackLivesMatter) Masto Foundation determined that we needed to be more explicit and committed about how we support Black communities.
We were already invested in supporting women, girls, and the LGBTQ+ community. As a result, we created the “Trust Black Women Initiative.” The goals of the initiative were clear - invest more resources, more effectively, in the Black community by listening to and fully trusting the advice of Black leaders and community activists.
In the early stages of the initiative’s development, we learned about SisterSong, an Atlanta-based organization that first used “Trust Black Women” 10 years ago as a rally cry to center Black women’s leadership in the reproductive justice movement. In full acknowledgment of their work and in the spirit of this initiative, we reached out to them to partner.
From our conversations with SisterSong and the advice and counsel of other Black women working in the field of philanthropy, we knew that we had to (1) respect everyone’s time; (2) follow through with our word; and (3) put the responsibility on the Foundation to make the grants happen.
To begin, we connected with Black women/non-binary/femme-identifying leaders who we respect and admire and asked them the simple question
"If you had $20k to give right now to support the leadership development of Black women and girls, who would you give to and why?".
From there, we listened and invited the activist to reach out to the organization(s) they recommended to let them know personally that Masto Foundation would be giving them a grant.
It was that simple.
Our Advisors & the Organizations They Love
Stephanie Lampkin
Stephanie Lampkin (she/her)
Stephanie is the founder & CEO of Blendoor, merit-based matching, a mobile job matching app that uses a blind recruiting strategy to circumvent unconscious bias and thus facilitate diversity. With a 13 year career in tech spanning companies like Lockheed, Deloitte, Microsoft, and TripAdvisor, Lampkin is all too familiar with the difficulties faced when one doesn’t look like the prototypical engineer. Through technology and data, Stephanie's mission is to reduce bias and challenge the assumption that homogeneous environments are a meritocracy.
Stephanie recommended that we offer a grant to Digital Undivided a social startup with 501 (c) 3 status that merges data and heart to develop innovative programs and initiatives that catalyze economic growth in Black and Latinx communities.
Imani Rupert Gordo
Imani Rupert Gordon (she/her)
Imani Rupert-Gordon is the Executive Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, legislation, policy, and public education. Imani is known for her visionary leadership. In 2020 The Chicago Foundation presented her with the Impact Award. In 2021 she was presented with the Freedom Award from Equality Illinois and has been named the 2021 Sex Education Trailblazer by SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change.
Imani recommended that we offer a grant to Affinity a Black-led, queer-led organization on Chicago’s Southside that works to end the marginalization of Black LGBTQ+ people globally by building a brave activist community where all intersections of LGBTQ+ identity are fully embraced. Through activism, education, and transformative justice practices, Affinity builds avenues for collective action, LGBTQ+ justice, healing, and Black liberation.
B. Cole
B. Cole (she/her/they/sir)
B. Cole has worked as a community facilitator and strategist for more than 15 years and is the founder of Brown Boi Project and Brioxy. As an activist, Cole introduced the term “masculine of center,” which is now being used to forward understanding of the incredible breadth of masculinity within the queer community.
Cole recommended that we offer a grant to Dem Bois, a national organization focused on providing charitable economic aid to FTM (female to male) and trans-masculine identified persons of color to obtain gender-affirming surgery to help them on their journey to live a more fulfilled physical, mental, and self-authentic life.
In addition to endorsing eight Black-led organizations, at the beginning of the Trust Black Women Initiative, Masto Foundation offered a grant partnership to Sister Song, a Southern-based, national membership organization. Sister Song builds an effective network of individuals and organizations to improve institutional policies and systems that impact the reproductive lives of marginalized communities.
Sister Song created the national Trust Black Women partnership in 2010 as a response to racist and sexist anti-abortion billboards that accused black women of genocide for obtaining abortions. The Trust Black Women partnership uses community connections, training, and strong communications to eradicate stereotypes and uplift black women’s voices.
